ARTWORKS 2018 OCADU

Waiting 

This is the work that was juried into the OCADU Alumni show, 2018.  Although I have posted it on this blog before, I just thought I would re-post since many have asked which work of mine will be in this show.  It is especially exciting to be juried into this show since it will be a mixed media show.  Any graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design University was eligible to apply.  It was juried by professors from the University as well as a Juror from Waddingtons.
Show runs from November 29th till December 3, 2018.
work measures 24" x 27"

Detail

Fibre Photo

Honouring a memory in cloth

Transferring  a special photo to cotton provides lots of opportunity to be creative and elevate the photo to "Art".  In this case, I extended the photo on three sides matching my hand dyed fabrics to the tones in the photo.  Then I layered it up with batting and backing and free motion stitched the three layers together mimicking the ocean waves, sky and sand.  And Voila! a sweet little piece created as a gift for a special friend, to remember our time together at the beach. 
Thanks to the woman on the beach who agreed to take our photo and suggested we look out onto the water together!
Its small, around 14" x 10", but I still created a little rod pocket on the back for easy hanging.

Ceremonial Fabric Covering for Bread . AKA . Challah Cover

completed project

Challah Cover

Add caption

 I was asked to create a cloth cover for the ceremonial bread that typically graces the Friday night table in a Jewish home.
There were lots of details to the request.  The homeowners had just purchased a new home and were very excited about their new modern, sleek, aesthetic. 
We worked together to stylize the three Hebrew letters to make them look modern.  Creating letters in an alphabet that you don't know is always challenging because it is never clear how far the shapes can be "pushed".  The final shapes were determined to still be 'readable' but modern and quirky.

I was also given the paint chip samples used to create the design envelope of their new home.
My Kona cotton solid collection came in handy.

After creating the letter shapes, I made pattern pieces out of card stock.  My challenge to myself
 was that every piece of fabric was to be pieced.  No applique allowed.

to make it more interesting I decided that the piecing needed to be done in wonky angles.
  Of course this added to the challenge too.

After backing the design with silk, I sewed through the layers
with red thread in straight, angled lines.

details of the sewing.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to create something with new rules and parameters.  The challenge was fun!

Season after Season

Lately I have been busy trying to resurect something I created while I was in school.  At the time I was working on a series about elements and this was my "Earth" piece.  I liked the textures, the colours, and I felt there was something askew about the shape and the movement made me uncomfortable.  It has been curled up in my studio, resting, for years.

Recently I pulled it out and decided to cut it all up.  Pulled off the binding and lots of the backing.  I was surprised to find that I still had some of the hand dyed fabric left over from the original!!

Sometimes it pays to hoard....

I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this, but I did know that I was unhappy with the overall shape and composition and so I tried auditioning extra bits and pieces and putting it back together in a different way.

Then I 'unearthed' this old photo of my father working as a field labourer in central America.  It fit in well with the theme and I had found my focal point.  I decided to work the photo into some of the areas of my earth.  I used the method of adjusting the photo in photoshop and printing it out onto water soluble paper and stitching through it.  (much like I have done before).  My father was compelled to leave Poland, leave his family and all he knew, as a young man and seek out a new life. There was no hope for him if he stayed, and there was nothing but mystery if he left.  He had an adventurous spirit and travelled throughout central and south America.  I know very little about his travelling adventures and even less of the family he lost.  This is my loss as well.  This is one of the few photos I have of him during this time.

 I found this experiment in my stash as well.  This had been an exercise in removing dye from the cloth.  I had been using my thermofax prints with a bleaching process.  It never came to anything but it was almost the exact same size as my newly sized earth piece and so this became the new back!

This is the final piece.

Here's a detail.

SAQA Auction

Really looking forward to the SAQA TEXtiles Conference in June.  This will be the first time I attend a SAQA conference.  Since it is in San Antonio, it will give me the opportunity to see my teacher, mentor, and good friend, Jane Dunnewold.  She will be the key note speaker.
This little mixed media piece is only 6 " x 8" and is my contribution to the spotlight auction.  Although small, I have used many of the techniques and teachings from Jane's art mastery program.  Hopefully it will raise a bit of coin for SAQA.

Its called "Meet and Greet".